BVI FSC Announces New Appointments

The BVI Financial Services Commission has issued press release where announced several additions to its management team and changes to Commission staff.

Stephen Grayson has been appointed the new Deputy Director, Legal, and will serve in this post for 3 years. Mr. Grayson will be focused on providing advice to the Commission on financial services legislation and related matters and providing leadership to and ensuring the overall development of the Commission’s in-house legal team. Before joining the BVI FSC team, he was Regulatory Lawyer/Investigator in the Financial Conduct Authority (UK).

Simon Gray has become Special Advisor responsible for Regulatory Training and Development. He is a financial services and risk management professional having previously worked as Director, Supervision and Head of Islamic Finance at the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

Ms. Simone Martin has been appointed the Acting Director of Insurance. Mr. Leon Wheatley will take the post of Asia Representative and move to the Hong Kong Office of the Commission at BVI House Asia. He will serve as Asia Representative until July 2017.

Other appointments include Ms. Yolanda McCoy as the Acting Deputy Director, Fiduciary Services, and Mr. Burton Chalwell as the Acting Deputy Director, Compliance Inspection.

Common Reporting Standards Come into Force in BVI

The so called Common Reporting Standards, developed by the OECD, came into effect from January 1, 2016 in many jurisdictions, including the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Guernsey, and Jersey, providing for the exchange information between tax authorities. According to the publication by Ropes & Gray, in the countries which accepted this standard from the beginning of the year and are part of the “Early Adopters Group”, all persons opening new accounts are required to provide “self-certifications” allowing financial institutions to perform due diligence and define their tax residency. The first exchange of information as regards certain account holders is expected to take place in 2017.

All investment funds in the BVI and other Early Adopter jurisdictions should have updated subscription procedures for new investors admitted on or after January 1, 2016, and should be ready to gather additional information from all existing investors.